Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski defended his old boss Friday night from comments he made in 2005 degrading women.
“Clearly this is not how women should be spoken about, but you know, we’re not choosing a Sunday school teacher here,” Lewandowski said on the phone to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “This is 12 years ago this audio tape. It does not reflect or bring to mind the Donald Trump that I’ve spent 18 months with traveling. I’ve never heard anything like this out of him and so let me say, we are appointing a leader, we are electing a leader to the free world. We’re not electing a Sunday school teacher.”
Earlier Friday, the Washington Post released audio of Trump and Access Hollywood host Billy Bush talking egregiously about using their celebrity to take advantage of women.
The Republican nominee later put out a statement defending himself from the new report.
“[Former President] Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course — not even close,” Trump said. “I apologize if anyone was offended.”
While Lewandowski said he has only seen Trump act respectfully to women, he stressed the excuse was “absolutely not” perfect and the move was not “defensible.”
“What I do know is that he has apologized if anyone has been offended, this was a private conversation, but you know, I know Donald Trump as the husband, I know Donald Trump as the father of two women, and I have seen first-hand the respect that he has had for women during my tenure,” Lewandowski said.
